Fabric lacing edge



J1me 1957 E. w. LEATHERMAN FABRIC LACING EDGE Filed April 20, 1955 I N VEN TOR.

Earl k4 Leather-man 9 i I I. BY Pg? MW .JITORNEY United States Patent I is 2,795js30 FABRIC LACING'EnGE Earl W. Leathei-marr, AhongOhim-a's signor to Goodyear Aircraft Corporation; Akron} Ohio; a corporation of Delaware 7 Application April 20, mssg 'ser'anwa. 502,546

6 claims. or; 24 141) This invention. relatesv to the. improvement in' the construction of a fabric lacing edge and in particular of a lacing edge to be used for connectin g fabric parts on nonrigid airship envelopes. p p r Heretofore, in lacing together structural fabric parts of an airship envelope, it was the practice to provide the fabric along its edge with a folded-over hem into which is inserted a reinforcing strip of heavy fabric secured therebetween and with metal grommets as lace supports, spaced a suitable distance apart from each other. These grommets, however, are held in place only by friction and concentrated shear where the spurs grip the fabric. In this case, the lacing forces are not transmitted uniformly into the fabric along the hem or lacing edge unless the reinforcing strip is made very heavy and large grommets are put close together, resulting in much weight.

It is the general object of the invention to avoid and overcome the foregoing and other difficulties of and objections to prior art practices by the provision of a lacing edge which is not only lighter in weight, but also of greater strength and distributes the forces more evenly in the fabric parts to be laced together.

Another object of the invention is to improve the lace support to avoid cutting of the lace under load.

The aforesaid objects of the invention, and other objects which will become apparent as the description proceeds, are achieved by disposing within the lacing edge formed by the folded-over fabric, suitably spaced and shaped plastic inserts cast over a connecting tape. These inserts, provided with a lacing hole and having a large base length, are bearing against the bottom of the folded facing edge to distribute the lacing force more evenly into the fabric.

For a better understanding of the invention reference should be had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side view of a fabric lacing edge, such as has been used in the prior art;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 11-11 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side view of one embodiment of a connection of a pair of fabric lacing edges, according to the invention;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line IVIV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a lacing insert by itself cast around the connecting tape;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line VIVI of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of Fig. 5.

Although the principle of the invention has been developed for the use in non-rigid airship envelopes it is applicable for other purposes.

With specific reference to the form of the invention illustrated in the drawing, first, reference shall be had to Figs. 1 and 2 showing for comparison a lacing edge construction of the prior art practice of which the numeral 1 designates a fabric member provided with a lacing edge 2 formed by folding-over the edge of the fabric member 2,795,830 Patented'Jurie 18,

and having inserted therebetween a heavyfabric reinforc ing strip 3 cemented together with thefolded edge portion of the fabric member" 1. Grommets 4 equally spaced and pressed into the reinforced edge formthe'support for a lacing cord. It will be recognized in this case thatthe lacingforces acting upon the grommets are concentrated in the fabric within a relatively small width and that therefore the fibers in the fabric 7 member 1 are not stressed uniformlyw'ith the tendency ofthe forces transmined-through the grommets to tear the fabric.

In "the construction, accordingto the invention illustrated in Figs; 3 and 4 the numerals 5 and 6 designate opposite fabric membersto belac'ed together, each memher being provided witha hem or lacing edge 7 having lacing-holes 8 suitably spaced from each other and being formed by-folding the fabric over a series of non-metallic, preferably, plastic inserts 9 having holes 16) matching the holesS; and being; cast over a synthetic fabric tape 11 hold ing the inserts 9 thereon in proper spacing. The opposite portions of the hem 7 inclosing the tape 11 with the inserts 9 are united by neoprene or rubber cement. The insert 9, separately shown in Figs. 5 to 7 is advantageously given in side view thte shape of an isosceles triangle having its greatest thickness between th lacing hole 10 and its base resting in the fold of the lacing edge and with its thickness diminishing towards the isosceles sides. For obtaining a reasonably uniform distribution of the lacing forces in the fabric members 5 and 6 the base of the inserts 9 should have a length of at least one half the distance between the center lines of adjacent inserts 9. The hole 10 of the insert is well rounded at both ends to give the lacing cord or rope 12, preferably of nylon, protection against wear and tear. The material for the inserts 9 may be nylon or shredded glass fibre reinforced resin, whereas the tape 11 may be woven of nylon fibres or glass fibres. Any other suitable materials, of course, may be used instead.

Tests with this construction have proven that the objects of the invention have been achieved, since the lacing edge can be made lighter in weight by increased strength, because the lacing inserts distribute the forces more evenly than is possible with prior art constructions.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed:

1. On a fabric sheet a lacing edge comprising a foldedover hem provided with lacing holes a suitable distance apart from each other, and rigid inserts of variable thickness placed within the hem and being cemented thereto, said insert being provided with a straight base bearing against the bottom of the hem, with a hole having flared ends matching said lacing holes, and with a greatest thickness between said base and said hole to provide ample support for a lacing cord.

2. On a fabric sheet a lacing edge comprising a foldedover hem provided with lacing holes a suitable distance apart from each other, and rigid inserts of variable thickness placed within the hem and being cemented thereto, said insert being non-metallic and in the shape of an isoceles triangle bearing with its base against the bottom of the hem and being provided with a hole having flared ends matching said lacing holes and having a greatest thickness adjacent the bottom of the hem and diminishing in thickness towards the upward edges of the insert.

3. On a fabric sheet a lacing edge comprising a foldedover hem provided with lacing holes a suitable distance apart from each other, and rigid inserts of variable thickness placed within the hem and being cemented thereto, said insert being plastic and in the shape of an isosceles triangle bearing with its base against the bottom of the hem and being provided with a hole having flared ends matching said lacing holes and having a greatest thickness adjacent the bottom of the hem and diminishing in thickness towards the upward edges of the insert.

4. On a fabric sheet a lacing edge comprising a foldedover hem provided with lacing holes a suitable distance apart from each other, a woven fabric tape made of synthetic fibres, and nylon inserts containing a hole hav ing flared ends and secured to said tape a distance apart from each other corresponding to that of said lacing holes, with holes matching, said tape, together with said inserts, enclosed within said hem and cemented thereto, each of said inserts in the shape of an isosceles triangle bearing with its base against the bottom of the hem.

5. On a fabric member a lacing edge comprising a folded-over hem provided with suitably spaced lacing holes, and rigid inserts within said hem each having a hole in match with one of said lacing holes, said inserts having the shape of an isosceles triangle with its base hearing against the bottom of the hem, the base length of the insert being at least one half the distance beween the centers of adjacent inserts cemented to the inside of the hem and its greatest thickness being located on the center line beween the base and the lacing hole diminishing towards the side edges of the triangle.

6. On a fabric member a lacing edge comprising a folded-over' hem provided with suitably spaced lacing holes, a tape woven of synthetic fibers, and rigid plastic inserts each having a wide base and a hole, said inserts united with said tape with said hole located above the tape, said tape with inserts locted within and adhesively connected to the hem with the base of said inserts bearing against the bottom of the hem and the holes in the inserts in match with said lacing holes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,623,681 Huerttle Apr. 5, 1927 1,690,188 Barkley Nov. 6, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 717,889 Germany Feb. 25, 1942 

